Monday, January 23, 2006

January 23, 2006: Osymyso

January 23, 2006: Osymyso

Hello! Getting ready to podcast Episode 101 of Some Assembly Required...

I've actually been experiencing some hesitation lately, regarding my plan of going backwards in history with this podcast project. The fact is, if I do say so myself, the show has been improving with every episode, and to go backwards is, well... kind of backwards. I will say this - I don't know that I'll be going all the way back through the first year as originally planned. At this point I'm still planning on podcasting the second year and sticking with that. Anyway... We'll see how this thing develops.

The 101st Episode of Some Assembly Required is a really diverse mix, including a track by an artist from London who calls himself Osymyso - the subject of this week's SAR Q&A...

Osymyso has so far managed to be recognized as much for being a DJ and a cut-up artist as he has enjoyed being lumped in with mashup artists. He's also an electronic musician in general, having created numerous sample-free works, as well.

One of the first tracks I ever heard by Osymyso was called "Pat 'n Peg." In it, he makes almost an entire piece out of arguments between characters on a British Sitcom called Eastenders, including a particularly nasty exchange between two of the show's female leads. Since one half of this exchange uses the "B" word, and since I'd recently been warned not to use that word on public radio, I proceeded to beep it out - each and every time it was uttered on the track. The result was absolutely ridiculous. If I remember correctly, there were over eighty beeps in that particular song - an absurdity I hadn't really thought about too much until airing the show. I just hope Osymyso will forgive me - I only wanted to share this amazing track with the Some Assembly Required audience!

Osymyso is also known for his epic, "Intro-Inspection," wherein he mixed the intros to over 100 songs into one listener friendly reference mix. He also set Chris Morris' "Bushwhacked" to music, and in 2005, involved himself with a project called "50 from O5ymy50 in 05" where the plan was to create one new track every week, for the first fifty weeks of 2005. He's clearly as much an idea man as a musician, which puts him near the top of the list, as far as this reviewer is concerned. The Osymyso track featured in episode 101 is called "Monkey to Camel." Originally available in 1998, as a 10" record, I think I probably downloaded it. He's made a practice of making most (if not all) of his work available for free, via the internet.

Without further ado, here's the SAR Q&A with Osymyso...

***
*Name: Osymyso

*Members: Just me

*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations: If I was to choose out of those 3, then I would definitely go for "digital deconstructions." Everything I do is in the digital domain. I love any kind of new digital manipulation software.

*Another genre descriptor: I like the term Wonkytronics or Daft Techno. But to be honest I just made them up. I tend to think of what I do as "Electronica" but that's a very broad term. There needs to be a new description; you've got me thinking now. Oh and just for the record, I think Plunderphonics is one of the coolest words ever invented and I wish I'd thought of it first.

*Is there a story behind your name?: I wanted my name to be something I had made up myself that didn't really have any specific connotations, sounded feminine and was palindromic, and that was one of about 20 I wrote down on a piece of paper.

*Location: I come from the North of England in a place called Harrogate and I have lived and worked in London since 1993.

*Original Location: Harrogate

*What is your creative/artistic background: I went to Art Collage (sic!) and studied Graphic Design but left when I started releasing records and decided that was my future.

*History: My first record as Osymyso came out EXACTLY 10 years ago next week.
(note: this Q&A was submitted July 6, 2005).

*Born: I was born in Oxford, England in 1973.

*Motivations: I want to spend the rest of my life exploring rhythm and melody. I love my job and if I'm doing this in 50 years time I'll be happy.

*Philosophy: It's all about being experimental with computer music and remaining accessible. Making odd music that is fun, interesting and exciting for as many people as possible. As long as I'm still searching I have a reason to carry on, if I am boring myself then I'll need to change direction.

*How would you like to be remembered: As creative, imaginative, honest and someone who stuck to the plan. I want people to love my music and for it to leave a trail of amused and happy people.

*Web address:
www.osymyso.com

***

Thanks again to Osymyso! Stick around for Some Assembly Required, Episode 101...

In other news: I just got an email from National Public Radio's "All Songs Considered," who have started a podcast for their program about independent, unsigned and/or self-produced bands, called "Open Mic." They're including a track off of my last album and perhaps doing some kind of feature on the project as well, at their website, which is awesome. My last CD, by the way, was titled "Cast of Thousands with Escape Mechanism." Its a CD of live performances by Escape Mechanism, recorded at art venues and performance spaces around Minneapolis. You can find the Open Mic website, at:
http://www.npr.org/openmic
The episode in question is set to podcast on Wednesday, January 25th...

I haven't blogged this week, beyond uploading the podcast. Must have lost track of time. I'll try to submit something later this week. This is fun, but it can be time-consuming! In the meantime, enjoy Episode 101 of Some Assembly Required. I'll be uploading it in just a minute. Until then...
Thanks for listening,
Jon Nelson

www.some-assembly-required.net

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home